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An expert in anxiety disorders, dependency – Hiller named president of psychology organization

Lynn H. Collins, associate professor of psychology at La Salle University, is the newly elected president of the Society for the Psychology of Women.

by Jon Caroulis

Lynn H. Collins, associate professor of psychology at La Salle University, was recently elected president of the Society for the Psychology of Women (SPW), one of the largest divisions of American Psychological Association (APA). She said the application of technology to psychology will be a focus of her presidency.

A Chestnut Hill resident since 1998, Collins said she plans to build upon existing public information resources about women and girls, such as Wikipedia. “I think Wikipedia is under-utilized as a tool for disseminating information,” she said. “When I’ve talked with people, including academics, they admit that they use it all the time for quick answers, though they don’t appreciate students plagiarizing it.

“Academics like the fact that they can easily check the sources of the information presented by clicking on the links that follow the statements within Wikipedia articles. Although there are still some weak pages, there are many pages that are closely monitored by the leading experts in their fields.”

Collins said her current scholarship explores the application of technology to clinical psychology, including listserv use, online therapy, and the use of virtual reality devices in treatment. She was instrumental in the development of SPW’s original website. Currently, SPW has several pages within the APA Website, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, three listservs, and a new stand-alone continuing education website, which Collins plans to develop. SPW also produces a professional journal, “The Psychology of Women Quarterly,” and a newsletter for its members.

“I wanted to become President of SPW to make a contribution to an organization whose members have contributed so much to my professional development,” Collins said. “I have always been impressed with the values, thinking, creativity, activity level and leadership of the division. I first became involved in professional societies in order to develop a professional network. I enjoyed them because they presented opportunities to stay informed about cutting edge developments within the field, intellectual stimulation, and collegial camaraderie.”

Collins’ primary theoretical approach is feminist cognitive behavior therapy. Prior to joining the faculty at La Salle in 1998, she worked with individuals suffering with anxiety disorders at Johns Hopkins and Yale University medical centers, and with patients struggling with alcohol and substance dependency at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

In 2004, Collins achieved Fellow status in the American Psychological Association. Also that year, she was also awarded the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP) Women’s Issues Committee Individual Award in recognition of her significant contributions to the enhancement of women’s issues in professional psychology training.

Her research interests include gender influences on psychopathology, international psychology, psychology of women, and women in academe. Collins is lead editor of “Career Strategies for Women in Psychology: Arming Athena” and of “Charting a New Course for Feminist Psychology.” She has served on the editorial boards of “Psychological Assessment,” “Psychology of Women Quarterly” and other professional publications.